VATICAN INSIDER: FR. JOHN PAUL ON THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION – POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA – CARDINALS-DESIGNATE AND CANON LAW

VATICAN INSIDER: FR. JOHN PAUL ON THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

My guest this week in the interview segment of Vatican Insider is once again EWTN’s chaplain to staff, Fr. John Paul. He spends several weeks each year with the Rome bureau staff and last week he spoke about that visit and being a Missionary of Mercy. This week in Part II, he has especially meaningful words on being a confessor that will give you a new and wonderful idea about confession.

Here are some photos from Fr. John Paul’s May visit in case you missed them last week:

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: go to https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive and write the name of the guest for whom you are searching in the SEARCH box. Below that, will appear “Vatican Insider” – click on that and the link to that particular episode will appear.

POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA

Paraphrasing Clint Eastwood, I’m going to “make your day!”

Here is a wonderful analysis – totally right on! – of Pope Francis’ remarks in an interview with editors of the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, where he comments on the “staggering” (the word used by Vatican News in its summary of the interview) number of “restorationists” in the United States, that is, people who do not believe in or follow Vatican Council II.

As we say in Italy, fammi un piacere! Give me a break!

Is the Pope being badly misled on all things American (including the Catholic Church in America!) by one of the people – perhaps the only person – he really listens to, Fr. Antonio Spadaro? Read on….

Pope Francis Does Not Understand the American Church | Jayd Henricks | First Things

CARDINALS-DESIGNATE AND CANON LAW

The interesting fact of the Belgian bishop who asked the Holy Father to withdraw his nomination to the cardinalate brings up the question of Canon Law in regard to cardinals. Bishop emeritus Van Looy of Ghent, Belgium was one of the 21 future red hats to be named by Pope Francis at the May 29^th Regina Coeli.

The Vatican News story yesterday said: “Pope Francis accepts Belgian Bishop Lucas Van Looy’s request not to be made a cardinal after the announcement provoked criticism that he did not always react decisively enough against abuse allegations.”

Cardinals-designate are just that, designate. They become cardinals the day of the consistory of creation as you can see in Canon 351 of the Code of Canon Law:

Can. 351 §1. The Roman Pontiff freely selects men to be promoted as cardinals, who have been ordained at least into the order of the presbyterate and are especially outstanding in doctrine, morals, piety, and prudence in action; those who are not yet bishops must receive episcopal consecration.

§2. Cardinals are created by a decree of the Roman Pontiff which is made public in the presence of the college of cardinals. From the moment of the announcement they are bound by the duties and possess the rights defined by law.

There have been a few exceptions made where cardinals were created who were not ordained as bishops.

I have been asked: What if something happens to a Pope before a consistory? The answer seems to be that the cardinals-designate only fully become cardinals when a Pope proclaims that in the presence of the College of Cardinals (§2).

 

WHAT’S IN A NUMBER? – POPE: ‘WAR CANNOT BE REDUCED TO DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS’

WHAT’S IN A NUMBER?

Vatican News today published an interview given by Pope Francis to 10 editors of the Jesuit magazine “Civilta Cattolica”. They note that what they published on the vaticannews website is “an ample excerpt.” To pique your interest (the article is quite long), I offer the first question asked by the editors and then several paragraphs of the papal answer, following that by their second question and several paragraphs of the papal answer. I also present the link to the full article so that you may read each question and the papal answers in their entirety.

I have to say I was perplexed – and also a bit floored – by part of the Holy Father’s answer to the second question: “What signs of spiritual renewal do you see in the Church? Do you see any? Are there signs of new, fresh life?”

Francis said: “It is very difficult to see spiritual renewal using old-fashioned outlooks. We need to renew our way of seeing reality, of evaluating it. In the European Church, I see more renewal in the spontaneous things that are emerging: movements, groups, new bishops who remember that there is a recent Church Council. Because the Council that some pastors remember best is the Council of Trent. And what I am saying is not an absurdity.

“Restorationism has come on the scene to gag the Council. The number of ‘restorationist’ groups—for example, there are many in the United States—is staggering…..”

What on earth does “staggering” mean?! What is “restorationism”?

If you are going to talk about numbers, let’s have some numbers, some specific, verifiable (and verified) data.

I am very big on verifying things – names, dates and especially numbers, quantities, percentages. I am big on truth. I am for understanding the big picture, the whole picture.

You may remember the lead from a CNA story from April 27, 2020: “The Vatican’s doctrinal congregation has asked the world’s bishops to report on how a landmark papal document acknowledging the right of all priests to say Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962 is being applied in their dioceses. Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), wrote to the presidents of bishops’ conferences in a March 7 letter, asking them to distribute a nine-point questionnaire to bishops about the 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum.”

Questions included: “In your opinion, are there positive or negative aspects of the use of the extraordinary form?”; “How has the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum had an influence on the life of seminaries (the seminary of the diocese) and other formation houses?”; Does the extraordinary form respond “to a true pastoral need” or is “promoted by a single priest.”

That 2020 survey was not the first. There was a survey in 2010 because Benedict himself in 2007 had asked bishops for feedback on Summorum Pontificum and “to send to the Holy See an account of your experiences, three years after this motu proprio has taken effect.”

The result of that 2020 survey, we were told, led to Pope Francis writing the Apostolic Letter motu proprio Traditionis custodes, promulgated on July 16, 2021. It greatly restricted the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Rite, sometimes colloquially called the “Latin Mass” or the “Traditional Latin Mass”. (TLM)

Why am I mentioning this when I’ve been talking about numbers and verifiable (and verified) data?

Because in June 2021, prior to TC being promulgated, an investigative story in the Remnant that looked into the survey conducted by the (then) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith found that “Approximately thirty percent of the world’s bishops responded to the questionnaire, and more than half of those who responded had a favorable or neutral response, multiple sources confirmed.”

Thus, more than half were favorable or neutral to the TLM. Which means that less than half were against it! In any case, less than 15%,

If so few were actually against the Latin Mass, why the need to write a document that so severely restricted it?

We need numbers.

And, regarding the papal interview in LaCivilta Cattolica, am I wrong to think we need data for the “staggering” numbers of restorationist groups in the U.S.?

POPE: WAR CANNOT BE REDUCED TO DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS’

Pope Francis granted an interview to the Jesuit review La Civiltà Cattolica, and shared his thoughts on the war in Ukraine, Germany’s synodal path, and signs of fresh life in the Church.

By Vatican News

We publish here an ample excerpt of Pope Francis’ conversation with La Civiltà Cattolica, which was released on Tuesday.

Q: The Society [of Jesus] is present in Ukraine, part of my [i.e. the Polish] Province. We are living a war of aggression. We write about it in our magazines. What is your advice for reporting on the situation we are experiencing? How can we contribute to a peaceful future?

To answer this question, we have to get away from the common mindset of “Little Red Riding Hood”: Little Red Riding Hood was good and the wolf was the bad guy. Here there are no metaphysical good guys and bad guys, in the abstract. Something global is emerging, with elements that are closely intertwined with each other. A couple of months before the war started, I met with a head of state—a wise man, who speaks very little: very wise indeed. After we discussed the things he wanted to talk about, he told me that he was very concerned about the way NATO was acting. I asked him why, and he said, “They are barking at the gates of Russia. And they don’t understand that the Russians are imperial and they will not allow any foreign power to approach them.” He concluded, “The situation could lead to war.” This was his opinion. On 24 February, the war began. That head of state was able to read the signs of what was happening.

What we are seeing is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out by the troops, generally mercenaries, used by the Russians. In reality, the Russians prefer to send forward Chechens, Syrians, mercenaries. But the danger is that we only see this, which is monstrous, and miss the whole drama that is unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not-prevented. I also note the interest in testing and selling weapons. It is very sad, but at the end of the day that is what is at stake.

Someone may say to me at this point: but you are pro-Putin! No, I am not. It would be simplistic and erroneous to say such a thing. I am simply against turning a complex situation into a distinction between good guys and bad guys, without considering the roots and self-interests, which are very complex. While we witness the ferocity and cruelty of Russian troops, we should not forget the problems, and seek to solve them.

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ANSWER: Pope: ‘War cannot be reduced to distinction between good guys and bad guys’ – Vatican News

Q: What signs of spiritual renewal do you see in the Church? Do you see any? Are there signs of new, fresh life?

It is very difficult to see spiritual renewal using old-fashioned outlooks. We need to renew our way of seeing reality, of evaluating it. In the European Church, I see more renewal in the spontaneous things that are emerging: movements, groups, new bishops who remember that there is a recent Church Council. Because the Council that some pastors remember best is the Council of Trent. And what I am saying is not an absurdity.

Restorationism has come on the scene to gag the Council. The number of “restorationist” groups—for example, there are many in the United States—is staggering. An Argentine bishop told me that he had been asked to administer a diocese that had fallen into the hands of these “restorers.” They had never accepted the Council. There are ideas, behaviors that arise from a restorationism that basically did not accept the Council. The problem is precisely this: that in some contexts the Council has not yet been accepted. It is also true that it takes a century for a Council to take root. We still have forty years to make it take root, then!

Other signs of renewal include the groups that give a fresh face to the Church through social or pastoral care. The French are very creative in this regard.

TO READ THE REST OF POPE FRANCIS’ ANSWER AND THE REST OF THE ARTICLE: Pope: ‘War cannot be reduced to distinction between good guys and bad guys’ – Vatican News

 

ROME FAMILY MEETING AND LISBON WYD MOVED BACK A YEAR – BISHOPS TO ENTRUST ITALY TO PROTECTION OF MARY – “LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA” JOURNAL LAUNCHES NEW EDITION IN SIMPLIFIED CHINESE

ROME FAMILY MEETING AND LISBON WYD MOVED BACK A YEAR

I don’t know what to say about the following press office statement except Wow, what does this mean? I am guessing they are looking at the organizational aspects of the family meeting and World Youth Day but I presume that things have been in the early planning stages in both Rome and Lisbon for a while now. I also presume they are waiting for flights to resume and hotels to open but with this, we are looking at two and three years down the road!

Statement by Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni: “Due to the current health situation and its consequences on moving and the gatherings of young people and families, the Holy Father, together with the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life has decided to postpone the 20210 World Meeting of Families in Rome for a year to June 2022 and the next World Youth Day, scheduled for Lisbon in August 2022 to be moved to August 2023.”

BISHOPS TO ENTRUST ITALY TO PROTECTION OF MARY

Welcoming the proposal and the request by many faithful, the Italian Episcopal Conference will entrust the entire country to the protection of the Mother of God as a “sign of salvation and hope” on Friday, May 1 at 9 pm, with a moment of prayer in the basilica of Santa Maria del Fonte near Caravaggio. (source ACI stampa)

May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker and a big holiday in Italy.

Santa Maria del Fonte is in the province of Bergamo, one of the hardest hit regions in Italy for Covid-19. (https://www.visitbergamo.net/en/object-details/34-santuario-santa-maria-del-fonte-di-carav/

“LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA” JOURNAL LAUNCHES NEW EDITION IN SIMPLIFIED CHINESE

The prestigious Jesuit journal, “La Civiltà Cattolica”, has launched a new edition in simplified Chinese on the occasion of its 170th anniversary this year.

By Vatican News

Founded in 1850 by Italian Jesuits, La Civiltà Cattolica is one of the oldest periodicals in the world.  On the occasion of its 170th anniversary, its new simplified Chinese edition is also being offered as a gesture of friendship, given the increasingly important role that the Chinese language plays in the contemporary world within the global context.

Parolin – fruit of a friendly encounter

In a letter to Fr. Anthony Spadaro SJ, the Director of the Jesuit periodical, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, praised the initiative, which intends to “write a new chapter – fruit of the friendly encounter with the rich tradition of the Chinese people.”  He said this corresponds with the “particular vocation” of the review which is “to build bridges and to establish a dialogue with all people.”

“Therefore, I can only express from the depths of my heart my warmest best wishes and the fervent hope that your review in the Chinese language might become a solid instrument of mutual cultural and scientific enrichment,” the cardinal wrote.

The Italian journal,  begun before the unification of Italy, has always enjoyed a very intimate and special relationship with the Holy See and Roman Pontiffs, promoting the dialogue between the Christian faith and contemporary culture with patience and respect.

Matteo Ricci
It was precisely Pope Francis who gave La Civiltà Cattolica the model of Father Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) or Li Madou, as he was known in China. The Jesuit, who moved from Macerata in Italy’s Marche Region to China at the age of 30, drafted a huge map of the world in 1602, which served to create a wider understanding of the world and to connect the Chinese people with other civilizations.

In a divided world such as our own, said the journal in a press release, it is an ideal image of the harmony of a land at peace. Thus, our review desires to be in its own way a map of the world, connecting cultures and civilizations.
Cultural friendship

In 1601, Matteo Ricci also composed a treatise on friendship, which offered an opportunity for the Mandarin Chinese and the “literati” of the Ming Dynasty, to know the thinking of the great philosophers of the West.  For the Jesuits and for the great scholars within Western culture, the treatise also offered the foundation for dialogue with the great intellectuals of China.

According to the Rome-based Jesuit periodical, European cultures have learned much from the great Chinese culture and from the wisdom of the Chinese, thanks to the study and the passion of the Jesuits. This is the reason why the Jesuit journal decided to start a Chinese edition.

The Chinese edition contributes to making La Civiltà Cattolica more and truly international, said the press release. For some years now, its writers are all Jesuits from different countries and continents, who offer unique and original contributions.

Since 2017, the review has been published in five different languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish, and Korean; and now a Chinese edition.

The fortnightly review has always aimed to provide deeper assessments of topics and events of broad significance.

All the writers are Jesuits and the articles are reviewed and approved by an official of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State before publication.

In his message to the journal, Pope Francis expressed hope that in its pages, “the voices of many different frontiers might be heard.”  He defined the journal as “unique in its genre.”

The website address of the Chinese edition: https://www.gjwm.org. Also available as redirect are:  http://www.gongjiaowenming.org and http://cn.laciviltacattolica.org The website is sub-divided in four sections: News (新闻);  World (观世界); Christian Reflection (基督教文化研究); and Culture (文化及评论).

Linked to the website is the WeChat account of the review whose identification code is gjwm1850.

CIVILTA CATTOLICA: BACKGROUND ON PROTECTION OF MINORS MEETING

CIVILTA CATTOLICA: BACKGROUND ON PROTECTION OF MINORS MEETING

At yesterday’s press conference to introduce and explain the upcoming February 21 to 24 meeting on the Protection of Minors, interim press office director Alessandro Gisotti suggested that two articles about the meeting written by Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi and published in the Jesuit Magazine, Civilta Cattolica, bear reading (or re-reading) in an effort to understand the clerical sex abuse scandal, how to protect minors and what went into organizing the February meeting:

Here is a link to the December 19, 2018 piece: PREPARING THE MEETING OF BISHOPS ON THE PROTECTION OF MINORS: https://laciviltacattolica.com/preparing-the-meeting-of-bishops-on-the-protection-of-minors/

And a link to the January 22, 2019 piece: CHILD PROTECTION FROM AWARENESS TO ENGAGEMENT: https://laciviltacattolica.com/child-protection-from-awareness-to-engagement/

ON TWEETS AND RETWEETS, CRISES AND OPPORTUNITIES

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a courageous act.”
George Orwell

ON TWEETS AND RETWEETS, CRISES AND OPPORTUNITIES

So many of you have written to me to ask what my reaction has been to the February 17 tweet by one Tony Annett that said EWTN should be under interdict until they “get rid of Raymond Arroyo,” a remark retweeted by a papal advisor.

My immediate reaction was confusion. If it had been April 1, I’d have thought it was an April Fools Day remark. That confusion turned to consternation, however, as I considered the source of the retweet.

What prompted that tweet and retweet? It seems to be this tweet from Edward Pentin on February 16: .@RobertSRoyal and @GeraldMurray8 dissect @antoniospadaro’s speech at Georgetown, the Vatican’s approach to China and @CardinalBCupich’s seminars on #AmorisLaetitia on @worldoverdc with @RaymondArroyo https://youtu.be/rYh3jMo49xU
11:05 PM – 16 Feb 2018

On February 17, we read: Tony Annett Retweeted Edward Pentin
Tony Annett‏ @tonyannett Feb 17 Make no mistake, these attacks on @antoniospadaro and @CardinalBCupich represent “total war” on the papacy of Pope Francis. Time to interdict @EWTN until they get rid of @RaymondArroyo.

We then read that Fr. Antonio Spadaro retweeted Tony Annett’s tweet.

When you retweet, it either means you agree with what you retweeted (I’ve done it scores of times with tweets from Pope Francis) and let it go without commentary OR you disagree and then comment and explain why.

Fr. Spadaro (I visited his site and only read a very small portion of his over 32,000 tweets!) did not make a comment so I am assuming he agreed with Annett.

Why would he? Who is he?

Who is Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. in addition to being a Jesuit confrère of Pope Francis and editor-in-chief of the Jesuit-affiliated magazine Civilta Cattolica?

He is a papal confident who, I have been told by numerous colleagues in the media and friends, lay and priests alike, in the Roman Curia, has the papal ear 24/7. While Pope Francis has the C9 cardinal advisors and talks to other people and meets regularly with heads of office and dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and is said to listen to them when they answers his questions or when they office advice, it seems he really listens to Spadaro.

If you were an avid reader of Fr. Spadaro’s speeches and his tweets, you’d come to know his liberal bent on many matters, as you would his little or no love for the United States.

How does Fr. Spadaro feel about America, and how many of his feelings and ideas has he transmitted to Pope Francis, whom he sees more than regularly at the Santa Marta residence?

Here is one reaction (and I could post many more!) to a Civilta Cattolica piece from last July about religion in America (Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture):

With a harsh denunciation of American conservatism, published in the semi-official Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica, the Vatican has plunged headlong into a partisan debate in a society that it clearly does not understand, potentially alienating (or should I say, further alienating) the Americans most inclined to favor the influence of the Church.

Why? Why this bitter attack on the natural allies of traditional Catholic teachings? Is it because the most influential figures at the Vatican today actually want to move away from those traditional teachings, and form a new alliance with modernity?

The authors of the essay claim to embrace ecumenism, but they have nothing but disdain for the coalition formed by Catholics and Evangelical Protestants in the United States. They scold American conservatives for seeing world events as a struggle of good against evil, yet they clearly convey the impression that they see American conservativism as an evil influence that must be defeated.

While they are quick to pronounce judgment on American politicians, the two authors betray an appalling ignorance of the American scene. The authors toss Presidents Nixon (a Quaker), Reagan, Bush, and Trump into the same religious classification, suggesting that they were all motivated by “fundamentalist” principles. An ordinary American, reading this account, would be surprised to see the authors’ preoccupation with the late Rev. Rousas Rushdoony and the Church Militant web site: hardly major figures in the formation of American public opinion. The essay is written from the perspective of people who draw their information about America from left-wing journals rather than from practical experience.

To continue: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=1228

What we seem to have in Fr. Spadaro and Tony Annett is a visceral dislike of anyone or any entity that disagrees with or questions or criticizes Pope Francis.

If you started to list those who have questioned the Holy Father because he has not been clear about something or he has caused confusion or people simply want him to resolve a matter, that list would include cardinals, bishops, priests, scholars, theologians and faithful, committed lay Catholics. There are those who indeed have challenged the Pope but the majority are simply people who want to resolve a doubt.  And when a doubt is about the Church teaching, doctrine, morals or Magisterium, it must be cleared up.

I remember in high school getting a homework assignment wherein the teacher had not been clear at all what she wanted us to do. She was known for being overly verbose and often unclear (derailed from her original thought) when explaining something. I raised my hand to ask her what she meant and heard my classmates whisper, ‘thanks, Joan, I didn’t understand that either.’

The teacher was not happy to be questioned but soon understood I was not the only one who didn’t understand the assignment, and she repeated it, her explanation was clear and that was that.

Here’s another take on the now famous – or infamous – tweet from Robert Royal, This appeared as a Note before his column yesterday in “The Catholic Thing”:

Note: Heartfelt thanks to all of you who expressed support and offered prayers over the past few days after stories appeared about a retweet by Antonio Spadaro S.J., a close collaborator of the Holy Father’s, calling on EWTN to fire Raymond Arroyo for his criticisms of various recent papal moves (and no doubt for the now five-year run of the Papal Posse). Or be placed under interdict.

This was either a weak attempt at intimidation or a lame attempt at humor – in either case, quite imprudent from someone who knows that what he says is taken, rightly or wrongly, to reflect back on Pope Francis.

Be assured, this portends no serious harm to me. This is why we have independent think-tanks and publications like The Catholic Thing, so that at least some in both Church and society may speak freely. Fr. Murray is most likely fine as well. But it’s not entirely a laughing matter for a prominent media figure like the talented Mr. Arroyo. If you want to express support, take a look at #imwithRaymond.

In any case, it will have no effect on our labors to understand and speak truth as we see it. – RR

And here’s the column that followed that Note: Three Crises – and Three Opportunities:

A wickedly funny website on matters Catholic, Ignatius His Conclave, recently pointed out that, in the currently casual logic of the Church, Communion for the divorced and remarried is:
1) a conscience matter (Cardinal Blase Cupich in February), or
2) subject to local regulation, which may lead to differences among bishops and national bishops’ conferences (the pope in Amoris laetitia and various spokesmen at various times), or
3) that “there are no other interpretations” than that of the Argentine bishops, since the papal letter saying so was published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (June 2017).
Which of these mutually exclusive possibilities is now normative, or will be at some future date, is anybody’s guess.

Read on to learn more about the Three Crises and Three Opportunities:
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2018/02/26/three-crises-and-three-opportunities/

ON THAT STRANGE, DISTURBING, AND ANTI-AMERICAN “CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA” ARTICLE

The following article is yet another refutation of the recent article in the Jesuit magazine, Civilta Cattolica, that has led many to write critically about it, often coming to the same conclusion as the title of Samuel Gregg’s piece suggests. I found this riveting on the first reading. A second reading is on my agenda.

Dr. Samuel Gregg is Research Director at the Acton Institute. He has written and spoken extensively on questions of political economy, economic history, ethics in finance, and natural law theory. He is the author of many books, including Becoming Europe (2013) and For God and Profit: How Banking and Finance Can Serve the Common Good (2016).

ON THAT STRANGE, DISTURBING, AND ANTI-AMERICAN “CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA” ARTICLE

It’s curious that whoever signed off on this article (assuming it was properly vetted) at the Secretariat of State didn’t pick up on the authors’ conflation of tangentially related matters, or raise questions about the article’s emotivist tone, or alert Father Spadaro and Rev. Figueroa to their distinctly amateur grasp of American religious history and the finer points of American politics.

Anti-Americanism is as old (if not older) as the American Revolution itself. Like all nations, America has its flaws. But these defects attract disproportionate attention from the rest of the world. This is partly because of the size and worldwide reach of America’s media as well as the United States’ superpower status. On a global scale, the choices made by, say, Argentina and Italy just aren’t as important for international affairs as decisions made by the United States.

Civilta Cattolica – No. 4000

Some of the most insightful analyses of America have been written by non-Americans. The exemplar is Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835/1840). Yet despite the scale and intensity of the attention given to the United States, it’s not hard to find articles written by intelligent non-Americans which reflect serious misunderstandings and occasional outright ignorance of the political, economic and cultural currents shaping America.

This brings me to a very odd article that recently appeared in La Civiltà Cattolica: the Italian Jesuit periodical published twice a month and which enjoys a quasi-official status inasmuch as the Vatican’s Secretariat of State exercises oversight over the articles it publishes. Entitled “Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism,” its authors Father Antonio Spadaro SJ (Civiltà Cattolica’s Editor-in-chief) and Rev. Marcelo Figueroa (a Presbyterian pastor who is Editor-in-chief of L’Osservatore Romano’s Argentinean edition), make various assertions about specific political and religious trends in the United States: claims which are, at best, tenuous and certainly badly informed.

Consider, for instance, the authors’ analogy between the theological outlook of particular strands of American Evangelicalism and ISIS. As far as I am aware, American self-described fundamentalists are not destroying 2000 year-old architectural treasures, decapitating Muslims, crucifying Middle Eastern Christians, promoting vile anti-Semitic literature, or slaughtering octogenarian French priests. Another questionable contention made in the article is that the Holy Roman Empire was constituted as an effort to realize the Kingdom of God on earth. This particular analysis will come as news to serious historians of that complicated political entity which became, as the saying goes, neither Holy nor Roman nor an Empire.

To read the entire analysis by Samuel Gregg, click here: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/07/14/on-that-strange-disturbing-and-anti-american-civilta-cattolica-article/

 

CIVILTA CATTOLICA MARKS 4000TH EDITION, FEATURES PAPAL Q&A WITH SUPERIORS GENERAL – BRIEF TAKES FOR THURSDAY….

CIVILTA CATTOLICA MARKS 4000^TH EDITION, FEATURES PAPAL Q&A WITH SUPERIORS GENERAL

Pope Francis had a really busy Thursday as he met with Jesuits who write for the Civiltà Cattolicà magazine, currently celebrating its 4000^th edition, addressed the plenary of the Congregation for Catholic Education and met with a delegation from the Anti-Defamation League.

Corriere della Sera published an English translation of Fr. Antonio Spadaro’s account of a three-hour meeting and Q&A session that Pope Francis held last November 25^th with 140 superiors general of male reliigious congregations. That conversation was published in edition No. 4,000 of Civilta Cattolica, whose editor is Fr. Anttonio Spadaro: http://www.corriere.it/english/17_febbraio_09/pope-francis-there-is-corruption-the-vatican-but-m-at-peace-5f115a68-eeaa-11e6-b691-ec49635e90c8.shtml

In his Thursday meeting with writers of Civilta Cattolica the Pope reflected at length on the importance of poetry, art and pioneering intellectual research, as the magazine seeks to build bridges with many peoples and cultures. Civilta Cattolica was founded in 1850 and originally available only in Italian. It is now adding editions in English, French, Spanish and Korean. Francis also sent the review a hand-signed note. Saying a copy of the magazine “if often on my desk,” he described its history as a boat’s voyage on the open seas, saying writers must never to be afraid of the storms, but proceed courageously, guided by the Spirit, into uncharted waters.

BRIEF TAKES FOR THURSDAY….

POPE FRANCIS ENCOURAGED THE DELEGATION FROM THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE to cultivate justice and foster accord, saying “the fight against anti-Semitism can benefit from effective instruments, such as information and formation.” The Anti-Defamation League was founded in 1913 “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,”

IN HIS REMARKS TO THE CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION as they meet in plenary session, the Holy Father urged all those involved in Catholic education to be builders of a more united and peaceful world, especially when educating the younger generations. Educational institutes have meaning only in relation to the formation of the person, he stressed. Another of your prime missions, he said, is to offer horizons that are open to transcendence. Francis also stressed the need for a culture of dialogue, saying our world has become a global village in which each person belongs to humanity and shares in the hope for a better future for the whole family of nations.

THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES has issued a statement following its summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism which was held in Rome this week. In it the participants resolve “to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world.”… We, the undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Summit on Organ Trafficking,  resolve to combat these  crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world.

Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of socioeconomic opportunities are factors that make persons vulnerable to organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal.  Destitute individuals are victimized  in schemes of organ trafficking  when induced to sell their organs in a desperate search for a better life. Similarly, desperate are the patients who are willing to pay large amounts and travel to foreign destinations as transplant tourists to obtain an organ that may keep them alive— oblivious of the short and long-term health  consequences  of  commercial  transplantation.  Unscrupulous  brokers  and  health  care  professionals  make  organ  trafficking possible,  disregarding the dignity  of human beings. FOR FULL STATEMENT: http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-organ-trafficking-summit-issues-statement

POPE FRANCIS GRANTS PRE-TRIP INTERVIEW TO JESUIT JOURNAL

POPE FRANCIS GRANTS PRE-TRIP INTERVIEW TO JESUIT JOURNAL

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called making war in the name of religion “satanic” and a “blasphemy.”

His words came in an interview with the Jesuit Catholic journal La Civilta Cattolica ahead of his ecumenical apostolic trip to Sweden. The interview was conducted by Father Ulf Jonsson S.J., the director of the Swedish cultural journal of the Jesuits, Signum.

Pope Francis mentioned the recent interreligious meeting for peace in Assisi, which he called “very important.”

“All of us talked of peace and we asked for peace,” – the Pope said – “ We together said strong words for  peace, what the religions truly want.”

When asked about the suffering of the Christians in the Middle East, Pope Francis called the region “a land of martyrs.”

“I believe that the Lord does not leave his people on their own,” said the Holy Father. “He will not abandon them. When we read of the hard trials of the people of Israel in the Bible or remember the trials of the martyrs, we see how the Lord always comes to the aid of his people.”

The purpose of the trip to Sweden is to mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, and much of the discussion in the interview covered ecumenical affairs.

Speaking about the mutual enrichment possible between Christian communities, the Pope was asked what Catholics could learn from Lutherans.

“Two  words  come  to  my  mind:  ‘reform’ and  ‘Scripture’,” – Pope Francis said – “I will try to explain. The first is the word ‘reform’.  At the beginning, Luther’s was a gesture of reform in a difficult time for the Church. Luther wanted to remedy a complex situation.  Then this gesture —also  because  of  the  political  situations,  we  think  also  of  the cuius  regio  eius religio (whose realm , his religion) —became a ‘state’ of separation, and not a process of reform of the whole Church, which is fundamental,  because the Church is semper reformanda (always  reforming).”

“The second  word  is  ‘Scripture’,  the  Word  of  God,” – the Pope continued – “Luther took a great step by putting the Word of God into the hands of the people. Reform and Scripture are two things that we can deepen by looking at the Lutheran tradition. The General  Congregations  before  the  Conclave comes  to  mind and how the request for a reform was alive in our discussions.”

The Holy Father was later asked about how the ecumenical movement can move forward. He responded by saying “theological dialogue must continue,” and pointing to the Joint Declaration on Justification as an important point, but added “it will not be easy to go forward because of the different ways of understanding some  theological questions.”

“Personally, I believe that enthusiasm must shift towards common prayer and the works of mercy — work done together to help the sick, the poor, and the imprisoned,” – Pope Francis said – “To do  something  together is a high and effective form of dialogue.   I also think about education.  It is important to work together and not in a sectarian way. There is a policy we should have clear in every case: to proselytize in the ecclesial field is a sin.”

The full text of the interview can be found on the website of La Civiltà Cattolica here: http://www.laciviltacattolica.it/articoli_download/extra/Interview_with_PF.pdf

ENVIRONMENT ENCYCLICAL “IS FOR EVERYONE” SAYS FRANCIS – PROTECTING THE WHOLE OF CREATION

I have had to schedule even my bedtime these past few days as they have been super-filled with events – interviews, dinners, speeches and committee meetings – and friends in town. And they have also been super happy days.

This morning was quite special as I accompanied 9 members of the USA Water Polo Team for a three-hour visit of Vatican City and the gardens and then St. Peter’s Basilica. We took tons of photos and one of the guys has a GoPro camera and video – an awesone piece of techology – I just may have to get one!

Our guide was Santiago Perez who heads the Vatican’s Sports Desk at the Council for the Laity.  He was super and the whole morning meant a lot to all of us. I think the team was delightfully surprised to learn the Vatican had a Sports Desk – founded by our most athletic recent Pope, St. John Paul in 1994. I told them to do some PR for this office – let people know!

Here is just one photo from the morning – we are at the replica of the Grotto of Lourdes in the gardens:

I have been preparibg some scripts for “At Home” and for an interview I have tomorrow moring for “Vatican Insider” so have had little time to dedicate to this column. However, in view of the publication on Thursday of the Pope’s encyclical on the environment, “Laudatio si,” I thought the Pope’s  brief words at the Angelus and an editorial from Civilta Cattolica, a highly respected, very authoriative Jesuit fortnightly  – might be helpful as a prelude to the document.

ENVIRONMENT ENCYCLICAL “IS FOR EVERYONE” SAYS FRANCIS

Pope Francis has invited everyone to pay attention to environmental issues.

Speaking after the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said his first encyclical will be published on Thursday, and he said: “This encyclical is aimed at everyone”

Calling on everyone to accompany this event with renewed attention to environmental degradation, and the need to act to salvage one’s territory, the Pope said of his encyclical: “Let us pray that everyone can receive its message and grow in responsibility toward the common home that God has entrusted to us.”

The document entitled “Laudato Si’, On the Care of Our Common Home” will be launched at a Vatican news conference this week.

The Pope’s appeal followed a reflection on the Gospel reading of the day that speaks of the seed that sprouts and grows and of the mustard seed which is the smallest of all seeds but becomes the largest of plants.

Francis said that through these images Jesus speaks to us of strength of God’s life-giving Word, and of how Christ’s love transforms that what is small and modest into something that makes the whole world and all of history ferment.

And reminding those present to always carry a pocket-sized copy of the Gospel, and to read a passage every day, the Pope said in the Gospel is the strength that makes the Kingdom of God germinate and sprout within us.

Above all – he said – the two parables teach us something important: the Kingdom of God is a gift of the Lord, but it requires our collaboration.

He said that although our contribution may appear meagre before the complexity of problems in the world, thanks to God’s love each seed of goodness will sprout and grow, and this – Pope Francis said – gives life to hope; notwithstanding the injustice and pain we may come across, the seed of charity and peace will yield its fruits thanks to the mysterious love of God.

PROTECTING THE WHOLE OF CREATION

A service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out

Pope Francis’ Encyclical on ecology will be published soon. With its publication, the Church’s Magisterium takes the environmental issue to the heart of its social doctrine. The Editorial summarizes the ecological path which the Popes have indicated in the last 50 years until today. In fact, at the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis said that «to guard the entire Creation» is «a service which the Bishop of Rome is called to do». Pope Francis has always strived for the harmony between all living beings: he has an anthropological, but not anthropocentric view. His commitment leads us towards an ecological spirituality which is a spiritual and sacramental life that is not alienated from the fact that we inhabit the created world as our «home». The editorial is an excellent background to the long awaited encyclical letter of Pope Francis on ecology that will be released this coming Thursday at the Vatican.

http://www.laciviltacattolica.it/articoli_download/extra/Editorial-ENG.pdf